Free Radicals | A Metabolic Plan

DHEA & CoQ10 – In the News

Filed under: Health Care; Tagged as: Alternative Health Care, Antioxidant Effects, Breast Cancer, Coenzyme Q10, CoQ10, Energy Production, Extreme Stress, free radicals, Heart Attacks, high blood pressure, Increasing Energy, Managing Diabetes, National Cancer Institute, Prostate Cancer, Veteran's Administration, Yale University

It seems that alternative health care is getting some press these days. Earlier this week, Yale University and the Veteran’s Administration Center for PTSD released information about the testing they have done and the benefits of using DHEA to prevent and relieve stress in soldiers. This was a small study but they tested soldier’s ability to cope with extreme stress and found they were greatly improved in their performance when their levels of DHEA were higher.

The other big news is that the National Cancer Institute has FINALLY released a report that shows that Coenzyme Q10 or CoQ10 may play a role in the treatment of certain types of cancers. There have been many small, independent studies done on CoQ10 which have shown significant health benefits for some types of cancer including melanoma and breast cancer. However, to have the National Cancer Institute actually print a report on this is a very positive event as they are generally opposed to alternative medicine.

So what is CoQ10?

Coenzyme Q10 occurs naturally in every cell and is part of a class of substances called enzymes. The role of enzymes is to facilitate and act as an catalyst for chemical reactions in the body such as transforming fats and sugars into energy. Because it is essential to the production of energy at the cellular level it is of particular importance for athletes and bodybuilders. CoEnzyme Q10 also has powerful antioxidant effects which destroy free radicals. Many studies are discovering that CoQ10 is beneficial in helping to prevent heart attacks and high blood pressure as well as treating Parkinson’s disease, managing diabetes, increasing energy and stamina, and improving the immune system.

Is a CoQ10 supplement necessary?

Organs that use the most energy (like the heart and liver) have the highest concentrations of CoQ10 and as we age, the body’s production of CoQ10 can decrease as much as 72% in the heart. Also statins (used to reduce LDL and cholesterol levels) deplete CoQ10 levels. Statins are some of the most prescribed drugs on the market.
If you’re middle-aged or older, supplementing with CoQ10 can be crucial to maintaining good health. While CoQ10 studies are ongoing for the treatment of diseases, such as migraines, asthma, breast and prostate cancer, and HIV/AIDS, there is certainly a large amount of evidence of it’s benefits in the area of prevention. Not only is heart health affected but one of the most valuable benefits is CoQ10′s ability to help regulate high blood pressure, a common problem aging adults face. New research indicates that CoQ10 may be a safe and effective alternate or adjunct therapy for hypertension.

CoQ10 may even enhance the effectiveness of some blood pressure medications. In numerous clinical studies participants taking supplements were able to take lower dosages of the drugs.

People under the age of 18 or those on medications should not take a CoQ10 supplement without consulting a doctor first. The side effects of CoQ10 supplementation are rare although it may interfere with some prescription drugs such as blood thinners and beta-blockers.

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Inflammation – The Silent Killer

Filed under: health and nutrition; Tagged as: Antioxidant Level, antioxidants, blueberries, free radicals, Fruits And Vegetables, green tea, heart disease, natural diet, nutrition, ORAC, Orac Rating, Oxygen Radical Absorbance Capacity, Reduce Inflammation

Several years ago this heading was on the cover of Time Magazine. The article was about how heart disease, Parkinson’s and cancer and many other diseases are caused by inflammation. Antioxidants reduce inflammation and protect cells from damage which obviously lowers the risk of these diseases and improves the immune system.

So how do you measure how many antioxidants you’re getting? There is a measurement of a food’s antioxidant level we call ORAC which stands for Oxygen Radical Absorbance Capacity. So the higher the ORAC rating, the more “free radicals” and therefore, inflammation a food can fight. However, keep in mind, a food’s ORAC and it’s ability to fight free radicals can change based on whether the food is cooked, dried or raw.

What foods are high in antioxidants? People often think first of fruits and vegetables. That’s true, they are, especially fruit such as blueberries, strawberries, broccoli, spinach (notice they are all dark colored ). However, nuts, especially pecans and beans, primarily the dark colored ones (pinto, red, kidney) are all great sources of antioxidants as well as many herbs and spices. As far as beverages, green tea and pomegranate juice are both in the spotlight as studies are showing their potential benefits in protecting against many diseases.

While being aware of what ORAC means is good information, more important is to eat a widely varied natural diet, remembering that we were meant to be hunters and gatherers. If you choose your diet based on that, you’ll most likely get the nutrients your body needs and combat the free radicals you’re being bombarded with on a daily basis.

Keep in mind that it must be a varied diet as all antioxidants are not the same – they combat different types of free radicals in the body. So if you just loaded up with spinach, you would miss out on the enormous benefits of something like curcumin. Recent studies show that curcumin has enormous anti-inflammatory capabilities and may even be able to suppress cancer at various stages. In fact, there are ongoing studies on curcumin and it’s potential affect on atherosclerosis, high cholesterol and Alzheimer’s disease. These are exciting studies and may give us a natural way to combat some of the most deadly diseases we face.

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What’s All The Buzz About Antioxidants?

Filed under: health and nutrition; Tagged as: Anti Oxidants, antioxidants, Diets, Exercise, free radicals, health, Natural Fruits, nutrition, Nuts, Oxidation Process

It seems like everywhere we look, people are talking about antioxidants and how many are in their product. So what do we need them for?

Ever heard of “free radicals”? Our bodies are bombarded with them all day everyday. Free radicals are caused by the oxidative process. We see this process in things like iron which rusts – that’s oxidation. It’s caused when a molecule has an unpaired electron. This happens in our bodies also. It’s an oxidation process that leaves a molecule unbalanced – it only has one electron. Enter anti-oxidants. Antioxidants pair up with the single electron and repair the damage to that molecule. That’s great you say – so just eat and drink a lot of food with antioxidants.

It’s been said that standing on a street corner when a bus passes by exposes you to more “free radicals” in that 30 seconds than our ancestors encountered in a lifetime. They were eating diets loaded with natural fruits and nuts that hadn’t been processed and loaded up with fats, salts and sugars. In other words their diets were far superior to ours AND they also got much more exercise than most of us do.

Wow! That’s a lot of free radicals to counteract. We actually get hit with about 10 QUINTILLION per day. Every day. Sounds like we have our work cut out for us. So let’s get started.